1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to information processing in an information processing apparatus for processing a document file according to print setting data.
2. Description of the Related Art
Print data required when printing a document from a computer, such as a personal computer (PC), includes two general types of data, which are print setting data describing a format and input/output setting according to a printer, and drawing data (hereinafter, the drawing data is simply called a document file) for reproducing an actual document file.
An application program running on a computer converts print data into command data dedicated for a printer via a printer driver, and transmits the data to the printer, to perform printing (hereinafter this printing method is called a printer driver printing).
Conventionally, in the printer driver printing in Microsoft Windows®, a memory block called a DEVMODE structure is used as print setting data. The DEVMODE structure is a memory area for holding information related to device initialization and printer environment and is featured by including two areas, which are a public portion whose specification is disclosed and a private portion whose specification is not disclosed and which can be accessed by only the printer driver.
Generally, in the public portion of the DEVMODE structure, only a basic part, such as sheet, sheet orientation, and resolution, is described, and the remaining most part is described in the private portion. The public portion of the DEVMODE structure is strictly specified as a header file for C language by Microsoft Corporation.
On the other hand, the private portion of the DEVMODE structure, individually defined by each printer driver developing company, follows the end of the public portion in the DEVMODE structure. Since a specification of the private portion, which occupies the most part of the DEVMODE structure, can be defined freely by each printer vender, the content of the specification is different for each company, which is thus not publicly disclosed.
As mentioned above, in a printing system by the printer driver (DEVMODE), there is a private area individually defined by each vendor in the print setting data. Therefore, the printing system by the printer driver (DEVMODE) cannot be used in a printing system, such as print on demand (POD), which requires a plurality of processes.
To solve this problem, an industry standard print setting data format not including an individual format has been formulated.
An example is Job Definition Format (JDF). JDF is featured in that it is described by Extensible Markup Language (XML), its specification is disclosed, and it is readable because it is text. JDF is becoming acknowledged as a standard format of print setting data. In the POD industry, a printing system in which JDF is used as the print setting data and Portable Document Format (PDF) is used as a document file is widely used. With the use of the above system, printers compatible with JDF/PDF are becoming widely used. Such a printing system is called PDF direct printing.
On the other hand, in a next generation printing system of Microsoft Corporation, an XML based format called a print ticket is employed as print setting data, and a format called XML Paper Specification (XPS) is employed as a document file. The next generation system is a system employed in Windows® Vista. The print ticket, which is this new print setting data format, has the same features as those of JDF, i.e., it is described by XML, its specification is disclosed, and it is readable because it is text.
From now on, it is expected that a printing system of print ticket/XPS will be widely used, and with the wide use of the printing system, printers will be more compatible with direct printing for print ticket/XPS.
Conventionally, there was a kind of separation in printing systems, such as the printer driver printing for office printing and the JDF/PDF direct printing for POD printing.
However, since a standardized format called print ticket appears for the print setting data in the printing system of Windows® Vista, it can be considered that the direct printing for print ticket/XPS will prevail as a printing system in a field of POD printing.
Generally, there are differences in items settable in each print setting data format.
For example, basic setting items such as a print size (sheet size), a print side (one-sided printing and two-sided printing) can be set in each print setting data format.
However, for example, although a watermark setting can be set in the print ticket, it cannot be set in JDF. On the contrary, although JDF has a concept of page minus, the print ticket does not have the concept, so that page minus cannot be set in the print ticket. The page minus is an effective setting method when a total number of document pages is not known. For example, when it is desired to print the last page in color, the page minus enables making a setting such as “print the page −1 in color”. Thus, there are setting enabled items and setting disabled items depending on the print setting data format.
As conventional techniques under an environment in which such a plurality of print setting data formats and document file formats (drawing data formats) exist, there are techniques as follows:
In an environment in which a plurality of document files can be interpreted, it is determined whether an interpreter can interpret an input document file format, and when the interpreter can interpret it, the interpreter rasterizes the document data.
On the other hand, if the interpreter cannot interpret the input document file format, the document file is converted into an interpretable document file format, and then, the interpreter rasterizes the document data to print out the input document file. The above technique is discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-173801.
In addition, uninterpretable information in the print setting data is converted into interpretable information and set in the print setting data. Thus, print data that is set by another printing system and cannot be interpreted by a printer driver or a printing apparatus is made to be interpretable for the printer driver or the printing apparatus. The above technique is discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-065839.
As mentioned above, when there are a plurality of standardized formats, the printing system also needs to be compatible with the plurality of formats. In such an environment, it is expected that a user desires to set the print setting and execute printing without considering which print setting data format can specify which print setting.
Further, when printing, the user may desire to change the print setting, without using a previously generated combination of the print setting data and the document file.
For example, there is a case where a user does not desire to use predetermined print setting data and desires to hold print setting data for each user (“favorites” function in a printer driver) and to frequently print the document file with the setting.
However, the technique discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-173801 determines whether the document file format can be handled in a printing apparatus and converts the document file if the document file cannot be handled. Therefore, the technique does not address a case where the printing apparatus can handle a plurality of document files. In short, it is not mentioned which document file format is to be used when a plurality of document files can be handled.
In addition, the technique discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-065839 converts a print setting item that cannot be handled in the printer driver or the printing apparatus into another interpretable item. The technique does not address a case where the print setting data format itself is different.
As mentioned above, user-desired printing cannot be performed in an environment in which printing with a plurality of print setting data formats and document file formats (drawing data formats) can be performed.